Saw it... 9/11 itself was an act of terrorism. All Bush did that day was fly around, and made a few decisions that almost any President would have. But no, he did not screw up that day. Well maybe he should have dismissed himself from reading about goats to kids sooner, but that is not something I hold against him. He only screwed up the countries response in the months and years to come. "the Interview" does not cover his creation of the "office of special projects", his lies about WMD, his screwing over the war in Afghanistan to invade a country that was not a threat, his authorization of torture, etc.
I am not aware of your delusional ties. The CIA said there were no operational links to Al Qaida. Al Qaida approached Saddam and was rejected by him. This has been covered in literally hundered of threads over the years here, and for you to still make these claims that Saddam was going to give WMD to terrorists or whatever is just plain fantasy. You might as well be claiming Saddam was going to ride a unicorn over the ocean and drop fairy dust on everyone. There is a big difference between wanting regime change, and killing thousands of Americans and spending trillions of dollars starting a war of choice in a nation building exercise. So what changed is a policy of containment that was working to a policy of war that was a failure.
Yes there were and they both wanted to advance them and that included al Qaeda. Saddam had his scientist and secret police working on methods of using chemical and biological weapons in terrorist attacks and could have supplied such materials to those terrorist groups. Saddam's Dangerous Friends What a Pentagon review of 600,000 Iraqi documents tells us. This ought to be big news. Throughout the early and mid-1990s, Saddam Hussein actively supported an influential terrorist group headed by the man who is now al Qaeda's second-in-command, according to an exhaustive study issued last week by the Pentagon. "Saddam supported groups that either associated directly with al Qaeda (such as the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, led at one time by bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri) or that generally shared al Qaeda's stated goals and objectives." According to the Pentagon study, Egyptian Islamic Jihad was one of many jihadist groups that Iraq's former dictator funded, trained, equipped, and armed. The study was commissioned by the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and produced by analysts at the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federally funded military think tank. It is entitled "Iraqi Perspectives Project: Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents." The study is based on a review of some 600,000 documents captured in postwar Iraq. Those "documents" include letters, memos, computer files, audiotapes, and videotapes produced by Saddam Hussein's regime, especially his intelligence services. The analysis section of the study covers 59 pages. The appendices, which include copies of some of the captured documents and translations, put the entire study at approximately 1,600 pages. An abstract that describes the study reads, in part: Because Saddam's security organizations and Osama bin Laden's terrorist network operated with similar aims (at least in the short term), considerable overlap was inevitable when monitoring, contacting, financing, and training the same outside groups. This created both the appearance of and, in some way, a 'de facto' link between the organizations. At times, these organizations would work together in pursuit of shared goals but still maintain their autonomy and independence because of innate caution and mutual distrust. Though the execution of Iraqi terror plots was not always successful, evidence shows that Saddam's use of terrorist tactics and his support for terrorist groups remained strong up until the collapse of the regime." Among the study's other notable findings: In 1993, as Osama bin Laden's fighters battled Americans in Somalia, Saddam Hussein personally ordered the formation of an Iraqi terrorist group to join the battle there. For more than two decades, the Iraqi regime trained non-Iraqi jihadists in training camps throughout Iraq. According to a 1993 internal Iraqi intelligence memo, the regime was supporting a secret Islamic Palestinian organization dedicated to "armed jihad against the Americans and Western interests." In the 1990s, Iraq's military intelligence directorate trained and equipped "Sudanese fighters." In 1998, the Iraqi regime offered "financial and moral support" to a new group of jihadists in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. In 2002, the year before the war began, the Iraqi regime hosted in Iraq a series of 13 conferences for non-Iraqi jihadist groups. That same year, a branch of the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) issued hundreds of Iraqi passports for known terrorists. This ought to be big news. Throughout the early and mid-1990s, Saddam Hussein actively supported an influential terrorist group headed by the man who is now al Qaeda's second-in-command, according to an exhaustive study issued last week by the Pentagon. "Saddam supported groups that either associated directly with al Qaeda (such as the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, led at one time by bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri) or that generally shared al Qaeda's stated goals and objectives." According to the Pentagon study, Egyptian Islamic Jihad was one of many jihadist groups that Iraq's former dictator funded, trained, equipped, and armed. The study was commissioned by the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and produced by analysts at the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federally funded military think tank. It is entitled "Iraqi Perspectives Project: Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents." The study is based on a review of some 600,000 documents captured in postwar Iraq. Those "documents" include letters, memos, computer files, audiotapes, and videotapes produced by Saddam Hussein's regime, especially his intelligence services. The analysis section of the study covers 59 pages. The appendices, which include copies of some of the captured documents and translations, put the entire study at approximately 1,600 pages. An abstract that describes the study reads, in part: There is much, much more. Documents reveal that the regime stockpiled bombmaking materials in Iraqi embassies around the world and targeted Western journalists for assassination. In July 2001, an Iraqi Intelligence agent described an al Qaeda affiliate in Bahrain, the Army of Muhammad, as "under the wings of bin Laden." Although the organization "is an offshoot of bin Laden," the fact that it has a different name "can be a way of camouflaging the organization." The agent is told to deal with the al Qaeda group according to "priorities previously established." In describing the relations between the Army of Muhammad and the Iraqi regime, the authors of the Pentagon study come to this conclusion: "Captured documents reveal that the regime was willing to co-opt or support organizations it knew to be part of al Qaeda--as long as that organization's near-term goals supported Saddam's long-term vision." As I said, this ought to be big news. And, in a way, it was. A headline in the New York Times, a cursory item in the Washington Post, and stories on NPR and ABC News reported that the study showed no links between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein...." rest is here and you should read it so that you will no the truth of the matter not the myth the MSM and the Democrats try to spew. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/889pvpxc.asp And let's not forget that the fact that Saddam remained a threat through his persuit of and desire to possess WMD and his ties to terrorist groups predates Bush. It was one of the basis of the ILA which made it the official policy of the United States that Saddam could not be allowed to remain in power, regime change. That was presented by President Clinton and passed overwhelmingly by the Congress.
I only caught the last little bit, but, I plan on watching it this weekend... What I caught was interesting...
And then denying them healthcare as they lay dying from the illnesses and injuries they contracted working on the site! Lip service in exchange for their heroic service - yeah, I guess that IS iconic for the "Right"!
Surely there is a middle ground between what he did (sitting doing nothing) vs. "running out screaming", that could be considered by rational people.
Oh look, another armchair security expert. Tell us, Fiddle, how many VIPs have you been responsible for securing and transporting?
I didn't watch it. I've had enough of listening to that man's lies. I'm just trying to put it behind me and move on.
How quickly and conveniently that some people try to forget who indicted Bin Laden in the first place: TEXT: US GRAND JURY INDICTMENT AGAINST USAMA BIN LADEN Note the date: Who was our President at that time? Note the connection, genius: Now go and lay your head down. Your brain is full.
The USA was under attack, and you say a 20 minute delay in a world of ICBMs is just fine? Just so the Pres doesn't have to apologize and excuse himself from a classroom of kids? Please, don't run to be MY president, or local police officer, or fireman, or ambulance attendant or nurse, or doctor. I want someone with better priorities than that.
And where did those ICBMs hit? So he doesn't create a panic and the SS tells him when he will move and to where. There was nothing for him to do, his advisers had to access the situation get him the facts and the SS and military had to decide when and where to move. I'm sure he would have preferred the teacher reading the story would have sped it up but there was no need to create additional panic.
They did, they went to Barksdale one of the safest places he could get to, and after the determined it was safe to do so he flew back to DC. I think the security people in charge at the time know better what to do than you.
Bush is a duplicitous, lying wanker. Seems only his right-wing idiot fanboys can't see the reality of the cretinous moron. But hey, dramatic imagery sells, right? And you bought right into it. Congratulations.
Apparently you missed the section of the post that you quoted where I stated i was second guessing him along with everyone else. I don't see how you missed it considering the post was only a few sentences.
I loved the interview. Pres. Bush is so genuine and thoughtful. I sure miss his calming demeanor. No, he didn't do anything wrong that day. He did what the experts charged with keeping the country safe and the president protected and the continuity of our government protected insisted he do. They were doing what they were trained to do. And yes, he could have prevented them from doing so....but he would have been condemned for that as well by those who wanted to play partisan politics with the decision no matter what he did. 9/11 was an unprecedented attack on our homeland and we had no idea that day if there were more planes out there or what the rest of the plot was. It took some time to determine all that....as the communications weren't working that well either....probably a result of all the jammed lines, etc. President Bush stood with us; cried with us; and made us feel that we would be okay. And that is EXACTLY the kind of calming influence the country needed from our president on that day and on the days just following. God Bless President Bush!!
I watched the entire interview. It was painful to watch him try to rewrite history. The most glaring fact! When asked his thoughts about 9/11 he described the day as "Monumental" and "Significant" he never ONCE said the words "TRAGIC" or "DEVASTATING". There's a special place in Hell waiting for G.W. Bush and the sooner he gets there the better.
Wrong....my son's been there and seen the proof. also....... http://www.cfr.org/iraq/terrorism-havens-iraq/p9513 Just google it..you'll find alot of info on this.
That is awesome JP. Really, I have to say I admire anyone who has the stones to say that the president could have prevented the deaths of more than 3,000 people but opted not to out of fear of partisanship. I mean, I would have gone with something more like he didn't really think the threat was real, but your charge of him not stopping the deaths of all those people out of fear of partisanship is amazing. He could have prevented it but didn't. You want your god to bless the guy who could have prevented 9/11 according to you? That you said could have prevented all of those deaths, all of those people hurling themselves out of windows to avoid burning to death and kill themselves quickly?
CFR, that's a laugh! Take a look at all of the military industrial companies on CFR's gang of mega-conglomerates. No, really, you think your son as a foreign invader would only meet friendlies in Iraq? Lee Hamilton, 9/11 commissioner, within the past week just said that the 9/11 commission report was not the "final truth" as he almost cried when pushed about the investigation. Lee Hamilton also whitewashed Iran-Contra. You will all be asking for the entire truth by the time the 20 year anniversary comes around, because we know we were lied to and will not stop.
He used 9/11 to invade two countries that killed tens of thousands. How you can be glad he was President is beyond me. Should have just hunted them down instead of wasting a trillion dollars, seeing 5,000 American soldiers die, and seeing tens of thousands innocent Iraqi/Afghan citizens die for an unwinnable war.
Nice spin... http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9352 The report concludes that there were no operational links to Al Qaida. And other links to extremists are mixed in with many other groups for strategic purposes. Now according to your logic, because the USA supported the Taliban against Russia, the USA also supported the attacks on 9/11. The weekly standard is a right wing spin machine who are intentionally distorting the report and misrepresenting it's conclusions. There have been no operational links to Al Qaida and Iraq. Saddam rejected the overtures. 9/11 does not justify the invasion of Iraq in any way. In hindsight, looking at the evidence weighed by the bush administration: 1) UN On the group with unfettered access to the entire country. The UN group saying Iraq was being practive, and allowing scientists to be interviews outside the country without handlers. 2) Iraqi scientists who were working for the CIA saying there were no WMD 3) The head of Iraqi weapons programs defected. He told the USA what Saddam had produced in WMD BEFORE the first gulf war, and that it had all been destroyed. Bush cited him in his speech in Cinncinatti laying out the reasons for war saying he said that so much WMD had been produced. Yet, but did not say he said it was all destroyed. So anyone would believe this defector said Saddam had WMD when he had said the exact opposite. This is Bush BOLD FACE LYING. There is all this strong evidence against WMD and the ability to search for it on the ground in Iraq. And what does Bush claim justifies the war, some guy named curveball who the USA never interogated and the german intelligence that did interogate him claimed him unreliable. This is the basis Bush choose to use to kill thousands of american kids in a war of choice! Bush is a war criminal. He deserves to be in prison the rest of his life, not giving interviews.
Well, as Bush himself said December 21, 2001: I guess presiding over our country's biggest attack in history is just FABULOUS!
